CZW Best Of The Best 16 Review

The Best Of The Best Tournament comes to Orlando, Florida!

CZW Best Of The Best 16

Orlando, Florida 4/1/17

For the first time ever, CZW brought one of their signature tournaments, Best Of The Best, to ‘Mania Weekend. It’s a tournament that focuses solely on great wrestling, as opposed to the death match style that CZW is known for. Normally, the opening round consists of triple threat matches, but with so many talents in Orlando for ‘Mania Weekend, they decided to use fatal four-ways in the first round.

The show started off with the Best Of The Best Trophy already in the ring. DJ Hyde (who didn’t get the negative reaction you would normally expect) came out and thanked everyone for coming out. Then, he introduced all of the competitors in the tournament, who all got in the ring for the customary pre-tournament photo.

1.) Best Of The Best 16 - First Round - Fatal Four-Way Match - Shane Strickland vs. Joey Janela vs. Lio Rush vs. CZW World Tag Team Champion Dezmond Xavier: ***3/4

The first opening round matchup featured four guys who are regulars in CZW. One person that caught my attention immediately was Lio Rush, mainly because he plays a much different persona in CZW compared to the other promotions he wrestled for at the time. He’s known as “Black Heart” Lio Rush, and I guess the backstory is that he turned into this darker character following a breakup with his girlfriend. Anyway, this ended up be a really strong opener. It didn’t go very long, clocking in at just over seven minutes, but they packed a ton of stuff into that short time frame! There was plenty of action, everyone had a chance to shine, and in general, the match was very energetic. In the end, Shane Strickland would pick up the victory to advance to the Semi-Finals.

2.) Best Of The Best 16 - First Round - Fatal Four-Way Match - Ricochet vs. David Starr vs. AR Fox vs. Jason Cade (with Veda Scott): ***1/2

Veda Scott is Jason Cade’s valet here….for some reason. This was actually very similar to the bout that came before it. You had four incredibly talents wrestlers packing a ton of entertaining action into a match that clocked in at just over seven minutes (according to cagematch.net, this was a mere two seconds longer). While I don’t think this was quite as good as the opener, it was still very entertaining to watch from start to finish. Ultimately, AR Fox would score the victory to advance to the Semi-Finals.

3.) Best Of The Best 16 - First Round - Fatal Four-Way Match - “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin vs. Anthony Henry (with Amber Young) vs. Scorpio Sky vs. CZW World Tag Team Champion Zachary Wentz: ***1/2

I feel like this might’ve been the most diverse of the four first round matches, in terms of the different styles that were involved. The crowd didn’t appear to be that invested in this match, but as a whole, it was still very good. This did get the most time of the first round bouts, as it lasted around nine minutes. Much like the first two matches, there was really solid action throughout, and everyone involved had a chance to shine. Michael Elgin would emerge victorious in the end, thus advancing to the Semi-Finals. He looked dominant on his way to winning here, which was the right move from a booking standpoint.

4.) Best Of The Best 16 - First Round - Fatal Four-Way Match - Dave Crist vs. Jake Crist vs. Sami Callihan vs. Fenix: ***1/2

While the previous bout was probably the most diverse matchup in the first round, this one (the last of the bunch) was certainly the most….interesting. Essentially, Fenix was in a very awkward situation as his three opponents are all part of OI4K. This does carry over a bit from AAW, as Callihan had been feuding with The Lucha Brothers. In that regard, there was somewhat of a backstory. By this point in the show, the four-way was starting to get really repetitive, but that doesn’t mean the match quality decreased. This was another very solid match from start to finish, featuring a lot of good action. They didn’t rely on the whole “OI4K vs. Fenix” story that much, as the stablemates did go after each other at a number of points. This bout was the shortest of the opening round, lasting just over six minutes, but again, the wrestling was still good, so I guess there isn’t much to complain about. Dave Crist would ultimately get the win to advance to the Semi-Finals.

Afterwards, we got a weird little moment when Jake Crist got kissed on the mouth by Sami Callihan after Jake had offered him a handshake. That was….a very weird sight.

5.) CZW World Heavyweight Title - Joe Gacy vs. Brian Cage: ***1/2

The first non-tournament bout of the night featured Joe Gacy defending his CZW World Heavyweight Title against Brian Cage. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this one, but when the dust settled, it ended up being…..another very good match on this card (I must sound like a broken record at this point). These two didn’t get a ton of time, as the bout only went about nine minutes or so, but much like the fatal four-way matches we just saw, the participants still managed to….get their shit in (as Brian Cage would say). These two went right after each other as soon as the bell rang, and this quickly turned into a hoss fight. They both went full speed ahead and just threw bombs at each other, which was pretty cool to watch. The crowd wasn’t fully invested in this match, but I thought the action made up for it. Eventually, Gacy caught Cage in a rollup to retain his title, which was a very flat ending to an otherwise fun title bout.

After the match, Brian Cage shook hands with Joe Gacy.

Before the next match started, we get a special video from CZW Wired Champion Johnny Yuma (who you might remember as one-half of the RockNES Monsters from PWG). He was basically upset that he wasn’t booked for the show, which I can totally sympathise with, since he’s a title holder in this promotion! Where is he?

6.) Ultimate Opportunity Scramble Match - Rickey Shane Page vs. Tony Deppen vs. Ethan Case vs. Ace Austin vs. Flip Gordon vs. Caleb Konley vs. Alexander James vs. Mascarita Dorada: ***1/4

This match was for an “Ultimate Opportunity Coin”, which will grant the holder any match of their choosing at any time, against any opponent, for any CZW title, with any stipulation. That’s a lot to take in (and it sounds like something straight out of CHIKARA or Lucha Underground), but it would certainly be massive prize for whoever managed to win this one. For the most part, this was basically the same type of match we saw earlier with the fatal four-way matches. The only difference was that this bout featured eight guys instead of four. The action was good, and it was entertaining to watch, but at this point, I was tired of seeing this type of match. Unlike a number of people these days, I don’t hate multi-man matches. They had their place on some cards, but five on one show is just overkill. Anyway, Rickey Shane Page would ultimately pick up the win to receive the “Ultimate Opportunity Coin”.

7.) Best Of The Best 16 - Semi-Finals - Dave Crist vs. “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin: ***

I forgot to mention this earlier, but OI4K have a manager named JT Davidson with them. He’s mostly associated with The Crist Brothers, from what I can gather. This was the first of the two semi-final matches, and while it was a relatively fine bout from start to finish, I can away disappointed. It certainly wasn’t bad, but in my view, it ended up being the worst match of the night. There was a lot of brawling on the outside, and in general, it was wrestled at a more methodical pace. Compared to everything else on the show, it just didn’t catch my interest that much. Again, it was by no means bad. These two did a fine job, but when compared with the other bouts on the card, it just didn’t stand out. While some might see Dave Crist beating Michael Elgin (via a jackknife pin after countering an Elgin Bomb) as a big upset, it’s important to remember that OI4K are regulars in CZW. This was just a one-off appearance for Elgin, so him getting to the Finals wasn’t very likely.

8.) Best Of The Best 16 - Semi-Finals - AR Fox vs. Shane Strickland: ***1/2

It’s fair to say that this was definitely the more appealing of the two semi-final bouts. I went into this expecting these two to work well together, and when the dust settled, they ended up having a really good match (there’s that phrase again). This went about ten minutes, and while it wasn’t as packed with action (like some of the earlier bouts), we still got to see some cool stuff from these two. Aside from that, I don’t have much to add. A very enjoyable match that saw Shane Strickland punch his ticket to the Finals.

9.) Anything Goes Match - Special Guest Referee: Kevin Sullivan - Pentagon Jr. vs. Matt Tremont (with Stockade): ***1/4

It wouldn’t be a CZW show without a crazy hardcore match. Even though Best Of The Best focuses on great in-ring wrestling, it still usually has at least one deathmatch or some sort of wacky hardcore stipulation. Well, this was that match. When Pentagon Jr. made his entrance, he came out with a massive bundle of light tubes. As most of us probably expected, this was brutal and bloody. Tremont (who apparently is doing some sort of religious/cult leader gimmick, as he’s being referred to here as “Father” Matt Tremont) got busted open about a minute into this one (what a surprise, right?). All sorts of weapons were used, including trash cans, forks, doors, chairs, tables, and of course, the light tubes. Kevin Sullivan swept the ring while the action was going on, and in general, he seemed very….tepid in this environment. Once the shattered remains of the light tubes were scattered across the ring, Sullivan was actually afraid to slap the mat when pin attempts came up. Later Stockade tried to get involved, and Sullivan hit him with his trademark golden spike. Eventually, Tremont got the win after hitting a Death Valley Driver onto a pile of chairs. This was by no means spectacular, but it was something different on this card, which I guess is a good thing.

After the match ended, Pentagon Jr. shook hands with Matt Tremont. Then, a video package announced that on August 7th, Matt Tremont would be going one-on-one with Japanese hardcore wrestling legend Atsushi Onita!

10.) Best Of The Best 16 - Finals - Relaxed Rules Match - Dave Crist vs. Shane Strickland: ***1/4

After four separate fatal four-way matches, and two semi-final matches, we’re finally down to the finals of the Best Of The Best Tournament. At nearly fifteen minutes, this ended up being the longest match on the entire show. It was a good match as a whole, but it certainly didn’t meet the standards set in the first-half of the card. While the actual was relatively solid, the match was wrestled at a slower pace compared to what we had seen already. That was one item that hurt this bout a little bit. They did a decent job with the Relaxed Rules stipulation, but it wasn’t the best idea to put it right after a crazy Anything Goes Match. Then there were the shenanigans towards the end. Strickland accidentally kicked the referee, which allowed JT Davidson to attack Strickland. The “King of Swerve” was able to fight Davidson off, but then he got involved again. Davidson lifted Strickland on his shoulders, and allowed Dave Crist to hit his super cutter for the win. The interference in the final few minutes was just so egregious. The match was still pretty solid, but that finish left a sour taste in my mouth.

Afterwards, DJ Hyde got in the ring, and talked about how so many big names in wrestling today spent time in CZW over the years. He told the crowd in Orlando to give it up for Strickland, and then presented the 2017 Best Of The Best Trophy to Dave Crist, who then embraced Strickland. That was a very odd way to close out the show. Strickland just basically no sold the fact that he got cheated out of the tournament. If I were him, I’d be pretty pissed.

Overall: 7.75/10

Going into WrestleMania Weekend in Orlando, this show was getting a ton of buzz for the card it had put together. Did it live up to the hype? Well, in some ways, it did. In other ways….not so much. The first-half was easily the best part of this show, with the four opening round matches and the CZW World Heavyweight Title bout were all really good. I know that having multi-man bouts in the first round is part of what makes Best Of The Best unique, but seeing consecutive four-way matches did get tiresome (despite the fact that they all delivered). From that point on, the show was a mixed bag. With so many other multi-man matches already in the lineup, the eight-man scramble was unnecessary. That’s not to say that they shouldn’t have done it, but it didn’t need to happen on this show. Matt Tremont vs. Pentagon Jr. was good for what it was. Then there were the semi-finals and finals. While they were all relatively solid, it really felt like the tournament peaked in the opening round, with the match quality decreasing from there. I flat out didn’t like how the final ended, and it just ended the show on a bad note. As a whole, this event was filled with a lot of really good matches, and even though it was far from the worse show of the weekend, it didn’t leave a lasting impression either.

ROH Supercard Of Honor XI Review

The Young Bucks face The Hardys in an incredible Ladder Match!!

My star ratings for ROH Supercard of Honor XI are listed below, but please be sure to read my full review of the show on Voices of Wrestling:

http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2017/04/02/roh-supercard-of-honor-xi-results-review/

ROH Supercard Of Honor XI

Lakeland, Florida 4/1/17

1.) ROH World TV Title - "The Villain" Marty Scurll vs. Adam Cole: ****

2.) The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Vinny Marseglia with TK O'Ryan) vs. Silas Young & The Beer City Bruiser: ***1/4 

3.) ROH Six-Man Tag Team Titles - The Briscoes & Bully Ray vs. The Bullet Club ("The Hangman" Adam Page & The Guerrillas Of Destiny): ***1/2

4.) Texas Bullrope Match - Cody vs. Jay Lethal: ***3/4

5.) Triple Threat Tag Team Match - Cheeseburger & Will Ferrara vs. The Motor City Machine Guns vs. The Rebellion (Shane Taylor & Rhett Titus): ***1/4

6.) Frankie Kazarian vs. Punishment Martinez: **3/4

7.) Bobby Fish vs. Silas Young: N/R

8.) Dragon Lee & Jay White vs. Will Ospreay & Volador Jr.: ****

9.) ROH World Title - Christopher Daniels vs. Dalton Castle: ***1/2

10.) ROH World Tag Team Titles - Ladder Match - The Broken Hardys vs. The Young Bucks: ****3/4

Overall: 8.75/10

SHIMMER 91 Review

Candice LeRae challenges Mercedes Martinez for the SHIMMER Title!

SHIMMER 91

Orlando, Florida 4/1/17

1.) Cherry Bomb vs. Alex Windsor: **3/4

While I’m obviously familiar with Cherry Bomb, I didn’t know that much about Alex Windsor coming in. She’s from the UK, and made a few appearances in PROGRESS and RevPro, but she was a relative unknown (at least, to me). I thought this was a fine opening contest. Cherry Bomb played her role as a heel very well (as she always does), while Alex Windsor looked pretty solid. As I already mentioned, I had no idea who Windsor was coming into this event, but I thought she made a good first impression. Unfortunately, she ultimately came up short here, as Cherry Bomb got the win after hitting a superkick.

2.) Four-Corner Survival - Britt Baker vs. Naveah vs. Samantha Heights vs. Veda Scott: **1/4

As the name of the match indicates, this is the kind of four-way match we typically seen in ROH, with two legal wrestlers in the ring, with the other two on the apron waiting to tag in when the opportunity presents itself. I’ve heard of Samantha Heights, but out of these four, she was the only one I hadn’t seen before. While I wouldn’t call this match “bad”, it was certainly a step down from the opener. There was decent action in this one, but at times, the bout really felt clunky and sloppy. Again, it certainly wasn’t horrible, but I just don’t think it worked out that well. Britt Baker would eventually get the victory after catching Veda Scott (who had gotten some of her team knocked out, or at least severely damaged, the night before at Joey Janela’s Spring Break) with a rollup.

3.) Leva Bates vs. LuFisto: ***

Bates came out dressed like Tina Belcher from Bob’s Burgers. Going in, I wasn’t really sure how this would turn out. On one side, you had LuFisto, who is certainly one of the best women’s wrestlers on the independent scene. On the other side, you had Leva Bates who (despite being relatively entertaining with her “cosplay” gimmick) is….far from that upper echelon of women’s wrestling talents on the independent level. When the dust settled, it actually ended up being a pretty solid match. LuFisto went right after Bates at the start of the bout, and really beat her up at points. To her credit, Bates didn’t stay down, and managed to mount a comeback. In the end, however, her best efforts just weren’t enough. LuFisto scored the victory after hitting Bates with a Burning Hammer. This match proved to be a pleasant surprise.

LuFisto continued to attack Leva Bates afterwards, but then Solo Darling ran out and made the save.

Up next, Lenny Leonard came out to interview Nicole Savoy. She won Heart Of Shimmer Title a year prior at SHIMMER 80 (a great show which I would definitely recommend) during ‘Mania Weekend in Dallas. Unfortunately, she’d been out of action since October after suffering an ACL tear. Since then, she got the surgery, and was going through the physical therapy. In addition to that, she’d been training with Shayna Baszler (her stablemate in Trifecta, along with SHIMMER Champion Mercedes Martinez) & Josh Barnett. Savoy said she’d return to in-ring competition in July. She also noted that she now has a manager’s license, and introduced her Trifecta stablemate Shayna Baszler. The “Queen of Spades” said that she knew she had to do certain things to get attention, such as being devastating in the ring, along with aligning herself with like-minded individuals. Baszler said they needed a locker room leader and a veteran to be by their side, and they decided to reach out to Mercedes Martinez. This brings out the SHIMMER Champion, who talks about here title defense tonight against Candice LeRae. She calls LeRae out, saying that she’s lost more matches in SHIMMER than she’s won. Martinez then claims that there’s not going to be a title match tonight. Of course, this brings out Candice LeRae. She attacked Martinez straight away, but then the rest of Trifecta swarmed her. Santana Garrett (who was wearing Batman inspired gear) made the save, and that led straight to the next match.

4.) Shayna Baszler (with Nicole Savoy) vs. Santana Garrett: ***1/4

When I watched this show live, this was the first time I had actually seen a Shayna Baszler match (she had only been wrestling full-time for just over a year). The bout itself ended up being very solid, and a big part of that had to do with Baszler. She played her role here as the bully so well, especially against an uber-babyface like Santana Garrett. While Garrett gave it everything she had, Baszler was just dominant, using her brutal strikes and submissions to just overwhelm Garrett. Eventually, Baszler’s relentless attack proved to be too much, and Garrett tapped out to a rear naked choke. I was really impressed with how great Baszler looked here. Of course (as we all know), this was just a sign of things to come.

5.) Cat Power vs. Jessicka Havok: ***

I had no idea who Cat Power was, but she certainly came close to matching Havok in terms of size and strength. This ended up being a pretty solid contest between these two. The crowd didn’t appear to be that to it, but the action itself was good, as they brawled back and forth for just under seven minutes. I think the shorter length certainly helped this match be as solid as it ended up being. Havok would end up getting the win here (as I’m sure most expected).

6.) Nicole Matthews vs. Shotzi Blackheart: ***1/4

Blackheart has a very unique look, to say the least. This was my first time seeing her, and she certainly had a big challenge in front of her in the form of Nicole Matthews. I thought this was a pretty good match. Similar to other wrestlers earlier in the card, the former SHIMMER Champion played her role perfectly. In this case, she was the arrogant heel who didn’t take her opponent very seriously. That made for a good story in the match itself, as Blackheart fought hard and put forth a strong showing against such an established star in the world of SHIMMER. There was good back and forth action throughout this one, and Matthews deserves a ton of credit for making Blackheart look good here. Even though Blackheart ultimately fell to the Vancouver Maneuver from Matthews, she certainly showed a ton of potential in this singles encounter.

7.) SHIMMER Tag Team Titles - Tessa Blanchard & Vanessa Kraven vs. Mia Yim & Kay Lee Ray: ***1/2

So the team collectively known as “Mount Tessa” are the defending champions here, and they appeared to be playing the role of “uneasy tag team partners”. They’re defending against a team made up of two great women’s wrestlers in Mia Yim & Kay Lee Ray. This was definitely the best match on the card, up to this point. Of course, when you consider who’s on the challenging team, that shouldn’t be much of a surprise. There was a lot of really good action throughout this bout (which lasted just over thirteen minutes), but they also continued the story with Blanchard & Kraven. There was a point towards the end when it looked like they would come to blows after some miscommunication, but they still managed to retain the titles when Blanchard used on of the title belts behind the referee’s back. As a whole, this was a very good tag team encounter. I would say that Mia Yim & Kay Lee Ray probably deserve most of the credit for the match quality here, but that’s not to say that Mount Tessa didn’t hold up their end of the bargain by any stretch. It couldn’t been a little better without the shenanigans in the final few minutes, but they were telling a story there, so I guess it achieved its goals in that regard.

8.) Dulce Garcia vs. Kellyanne: ***1/4

Well look what we have here…..an unmasked Sexy Star. There’d been a lot of controversy surrounding Sexy Star following the second and third seasons of Lucha Underground (not counting the fiascos with Rosemary & Taya, which hadn’t happened yet). It feels like she keeps going back and forth between “I’m retired from wrestling. I’m a boxer now” and “No wait, I still wrestle!”. Anyway, she was on this show, and she went up against Kellyanne, a wrestler from Australia (and another performer who I hadn’t seen before). While it wasn’t as good as the tag team bout that came before it, I would say that it was certainly one of the better matchups on this card. Say what you will about Sexy Star, but she can still deliver solid performances in the right situations, and in this case, Kellyanne (who did a nice job here in general) proved to be a good opponent for her. There was some nice back and forth action throughout this contest, but eventually, Dulce Garcia managed to pick up the win.

9.) SHIMMER Title - Mercedes Martinez (with Nicole Savoy) vs. Candice LeRae: ***3/4

While Martinez tried to wave off this main event title defense earlier in the night, it did indeed happen as scheduled. The fact that this ended up being the best match on this show shouldn’t be a shock to anyone. These two put together a really good title bout that featured some very solid action from start to finish. Candice LeRae is such an awesome performer. Anytime I see her on a card, I get excited, because I know that (nine times out of ten) she’ll deliver. As for Martinez, I have to admit that I’m not a big fan of hers, but she was pretty good in this match as well. In the middle of the bout, Nicole Savoy & Shayna Baszler (the latter wasn’t at ringside initially) tried to interfere, but they both got ejected. I’m sure most people who saw this show weren’t fans of the attempted interference. However, I was willing to give it a pass in this case, since it didn’t directly lead to the finish. Without her stablemates, Martinez was forced to take on LeRae one-on-one, and ultimately, she emerged victorious to retain her SHIMMER Title. Aside from the interference, this was a very good match and a strong way to close out the show.

Overall: 7.0/10

SHIMMER 91 didn’t come close to topping SHIMMER 80 from the year prior, but it was still a relatively fine show as a whole. Aside from the Four-Corner Survival Match, there really wasn’t anything else on the card that was close to being bad. The two title defenses were easily the best matches on this show, and the undercard had a number of bouts in the ***-***1/4 range. While WWE signing more strong women’s wrestlers (like Evie & Kimber Lee, just to name a few) has certainly had an impact on the roster, there are still a number of talented women’s performers across the independents and in SHIMMER. This wasn’t their best outing, but it was still a mostly solid show that featured a number of good matches.

Pro-Wrestling Revolver: Pancakes & Piledrivers 2017 Review

Pancakes & Wrestling? What a great combination!

So this was certainly a first for WrestleMania Weekend. Pro-Wrestling Revolver (a promotion run by Sami Callihan) decided to have a show a noon that included pancakes (apparently from IHOP) catered for all of the fans that came to the show. It was a pretty cool idea, and the card itself looked rather interesting on paper.

Pro-Wrestling Revolver: Pancakes & Piledrivers

Orlando, Florida 4/1/17

1.) David Starr vs. Jeff Cobb: ***1/2

The show kicked off with a strong opener in the form of David Starr vs. Jeff Cobb. Apparently this was a first-time ever meeting between these two, which surprised a lot of people (myself included). Simply put, this was a really good wrestling match. There was very solid action throughout, and both men got to show off their respective strengths. Ultimately, Cobb would emerge victorious after hitting Starr with Tour Of The Islands. As an opening contest, this was perfect.

2.) Five-Way Match - ACH vs. Dezmond Xavier vs. Matt Palmer vs. “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin vs. Impact Grand Champion Moose: ***3/4

Matt Palmer is the only person involved in this one that I wasn’t familiar. From what I could gather, he appears to be a regular in Pro-Wrestling Revolver, and the fact that he ultimately got the win here (I guess) confirms it. This was an incredibly entertaining match that was packed with action from start to finish. These five fought in the ring and outside of it, as they eventually brawled towards the area where the pancakes were being served. At that point, Dezmond Xavier hit this crazy running dive off the bleachers onto everyone else! This was an extremely fun match to watch, and everyone involved had opportunities to shine. Palmer got the win after hitting Xavier with a tombstone piledriver off the second rope.

3.) No DQ Match - Eddie Kingston vs. Krugar: ***1/4

So Krugar is the man formerly known as Adam Rose. The name is a reference to Leo Krueger, which was the name/character he had in NXT before becoming Adam Rose. This ended up being a very violent affair. Weapons like chairs and trash cans/trash can lids were involved, and Krugar even asked Kingston to keep hitting him in the head with these weapons. Krugar got offense in, but what made this work was Kingston just beating the shit out of this guy (aside from the shots to the head). I wasn’t expecting much from this, but it proved to be a bit better than expected. The match came to an end after Kingston finally put Krugar out of his misery with a series of backdrop drivers and spinning backfists.

After the match, Bull James came out carrying a chain. He flipped Kingston off, and attacked him with the chair. James then took the mic, and brought up the fact that he has a lot of history in Orlando, Florida. The fans chanted “no one cares”, and James told everyone to go fuck themselves. I honestly had a hard time hearing parts of his promo. I guess he complained about the fans jarring at him, and dared any of them to get in the ring to fight him. He closed this odd promo by saying “Orlando, Fuck You”.

4.) Fans Bring The Presents Match - Angelico & Jack Evans vs. OI4K (Dave Crist & Jake Crist): **1/4

So this is basically a Fan Brings The Weapons Match, but themed a bit differently, since it just so happened to be Jack Evans’ Birthday. Before the match began, Evans took the mic and did the ring introductions for his own team. Evans noted that he and Angelico are both injured, but declared that they’re going to fight anyway. Evans then started to sing Happy Birthday to himself, but he and Angelico are quickly jumped by OI4K. This was basically a comedy hardcore match. We got scenes such as sword fight involving kids swords and lightsabers, Dave Crist smothering some pancakes in the face of Jacks Evans in an attempt to get him to submit, and Dave’s face getting shoved into the ass off his brother Jake. Nothing much else to talk about with this one. Los Gueros Del Cielo would score the victory.

5.) Ricochet vs. Shane Strickland: ****

On paper, this had the potential to be a fantastic match, and when the dust settled, it certainly delivered. These two had a great back and forth contest that featured plenty of exciting action and incredibly smooth sequences throughout! Of course, we all know how awesome Ricochet is (and this was another really strong performance to add to numerous matches he had during this big weekend), but Strickland has stepped up his game a ton over the last few years. Honestly, I don’t have much else to say about this match. It was blast to watch. Ultimately, Ricochet picked up the win here after hitting Strickland with an insane looking Flatliner.

6.) Jake Manning vs. Su Yung: **1/4

Before the match began, Manning took the mic, and said that the glass ceiling wouldn’t break this afternoon. He thanked Pro-Wrestling Revolver for naming the show after him. Manning said he’s the master of the piledriver, and that Su Yung is only good for cooking pancakes. He claimed that he paid for all of the pancakes the fans are eating right now. Manning had this “valet” with him named Eddie McQueen, and said that he was putting off more sexual feminine energy than any woman in the building, thus proving that anything a woman can do, a man can do better.

As for the match itself, it was probably the worst of the show. It just….didn’t appeal to me in any way. At one point, Manning tried a mandible claw with a scout sock. Towards the end of the match, Eddie McQueen distracted Su Yung, and this allowed Manning hit her with a low blow, followed by a piledriver on top of a stack of pancakes for the win. There wasn’t much to this one, and honestly, I barely remember it. It wasn’t entirely awful, but I just don’t think it worked. Intergender Wrestling on the independents has really died down after it’s height a few years ago, and even if you do it today, it only works when you have the right people in there.  

After the match, Manning taunted Yung, and the “undead bride” responded by spitting red mist in his face! At least you can say Manning got his comeuppance.

7.) The Lucha Brothers (Fenix & Pentagon Jr.) vs. Brian Cage & Sami Callihan: ****1/4

Apparently this Brian Cage/Sami Callihan team is called “Twins”. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this one (mainly because I wasn’t sure how well this Cage/Callihan pairing would work), but these two teams ended up having a great match. Things got started right away as Cage hit a big dive, and from there, we got a ton of nonstop action throughout the rest of the match. Fenix & Pentagon Jr. work so well together as a team (they’re brothers so, no surprise there), and to their credit, the Cage/Callihan team were pretty good as well. This was a very energetic match as a whole, and the crowd was really into it. The Lucha Brothers would eventually get the win after Callihan got hit with a Package Piledriver from Pentagon Jr., followed by a Canadian Destroyer from Fenix. This was a pretty fantastic tag team encounter.

Afterwards, fans threw money into the ring, and the two teams celebrated together in a sign of respect. Fenix took the mic and thanked the crowd, while Callihan offered The Lucha Brothers pancakes before leaving.

8.) PWR Scramble Title - AR Fox Open Invitational Ladder Match - AR Fox vs. Joey Janela (with Penelope Ford) vs. Jason Cade vs. Davey Vega vs. Trey Miguel vs. Arik Cannon vs. Zachary Wentz vs. Caleb Konley vs. Trevor Lee vs. Serpentico vs. Lio Rush: ****1/2

So this Ladder Match had eleven participants in it…..ELEVEN!!! That has to be a new record, right?? Anyway, when you have that many people in a Ladder Match, you know it’s going to get crazy, and it that regard, it certainly surpassed expectations. This was an absolutely insane Ladder Match!! There were so many wild spots and incredible moments in this one, and everyone involved (even Penelope Ford) had opportunities to shine (and by that, I mean that they all had the chance to do something crazy). A recap of everything that happened couldn’t do this justice, so I’m not even going to try. You really need to see this match for yourself just to fully understand how insane it was. Eventually, through all of the chaos, Jason Cade captured the PWR Scramble Title to win the match. This main event was a crazy stunt show in the best way possible, and one of the highlights of WrestleMania Weekend in Orlando.

Overall: 8.25/10

As a whole, this was a very strong show from Pro-Wrestling Revolver. In a way, it was similar to the WrestleCon SuperShow, as the match quality throughout the card varied a lot. However, what set Pancakes & Piledrivers apart was that it had more high points. The WrestleCon SuperShow, when you really look at it, was only a one match show. This event had a number of great matches on it (the main event, Lucha Brothers vs. Cage & Callihan, and Ricochet vs. Strickland). While it had low points for sure (The “Fans Brings The Presents” Match and Jake Manning vs. Su Yung), the number of really good to great matches more than made up for it. With some great matches towards the top of the card, a mostly fun undercard, and pancakes, you couldn’t go wrong with this show. I would say that this show is definitely worth checking out.

WrestleCon SuperShow 2017 Review

Ricochet and Will Ospreay meet once again, but under very unique circumstances!

WrestleCon SuperShow 2017

Orlando, Florida 3/31/17

1.) Six-Man Tag - ACH, “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin, & Mascarita Dorada vs. David Starr, Caleb Konley, & Trevor Lee: ***1/4

Mascarita Dorada, for those who don’t know, was formerly El Torito in WWE. I have to say, seeing him as part of this opening bout was very….odd. He a very talented wrestler, don’t get me wrong, but in this match (on paper), he just stuck out like a sore thumb so much. Still, I would say that this was a pretty entertaining opener as a whole. This clocked in at just under twelve minutes, and it was a lot of fun to watch. David Starr, Caleb Konley, & Trevor Lee were great in their role as the heels here, particularly when they went up against Mascarita Dorada, who mixed in some comedy (such as a number of ball shots early) with some serious wrestling (such as an incredible hurricanrana he hit on Konley at one point). Michael Elgin was very solid here as a well, as he showed off some of his power. As for ACH, he didn’t do a ton, but it he certainly added to the lighthearted nature of this match. Eventually, Mascarita Dorada won the bout for his team after hitting a double jump moonsault onto Konley. Obviously, it could’ve been better if we had a different partner teaming with ACH & Michael Elgin, but for this show, it was a perfect opening contest.

2.) Low Ki vs. Shane Strickland: ***1/2

This was originally billed as Strickland vs. a mystery opponent, and ultimately, Low Ki was revealed as the mystery opponent. On paper, this was certainly one of the matches on this card that I was looking forward to the most. Strickland’s stock has certainly gone up over the past few years (rightfully so), while Low Ki has been around for (what feels like) forever. While this didn’t end up being the great match I was anticipating, it was still very good. There was a ton of solid action throughout, but they never really went totally nuts with some of the spots. They also managed to tell a fine story as well. At points, Strickland try to go for some high-flying offense, but for the most part, Low Ki kept him grounded. As a result, the match was more methodical, and in the end, that strategy choice ended up working well for Low Ki, who got the pin after hitting Strickland with Warrior’s Way on the ring apron. A very good bout between these two.

3.) Impact World Heavyweight Title - Bobby Lashley vs. Jeff Cobb: **1/4

Initially, Lashley didn’t come out when his entrance music was played, which led to “Fuck That Owl” chants. After stalling for another minute or two, he eventually made his entrance. This was a matchup that a lot of people were looking forward to. It certainly had potential on paper, but unfortunately, it just didn’t deliver. The main reason why this ended up being a disappointment had to do with how the match was structured. Most were expecting this to be a “hoss fight” of sorts, with two big dudes just going after each other. Instead, we got a much more simple bout that featured a control period from Lashley that just wasn’t very interested. A match like this would’ve fit much better on an episode of Impact, but not on this kind of card. Cobb did a solid job here, but Lashley just didn’t show up to work, I suppose. Lashley would ultimately retain his title (oh by the way, the Impact World Heavyweight Title was on the line here, but honestly, who cares?) after hitting Cobb with a spear. I think it’s fair to call this one of the most disappointing matches of the entire weekend.

4.) Angelico & Jack Evans vs. Flip Gordon & Sammy Guevara: ***1/4

Here we have a tag team encounter featuring four incredible high flyers (though this was before Gordon broke out in ROH and on Being The Elite). Much like the Low Ki/Shane Strickland bout from earlier, this had a lot of potential on paper, but it didn’t ended up being as great as we thought it would be (especially considering some of the guys involved). That’s not to say the match wasn’t entertaining, however. Early on, Evans cut a promo (via shouting), where he made fun of Guevara by calling him “Justin Bieber”. I’m sure most recognize this already, but Jack Evans is such an entertaining guy (particularly when he’s playing a heel). As for the body of the match itself, I’d say it was perfectly solid. As I alluded to already, you know these guys are capable of much more, but for what this was, it worked out fine. There was some fun action, and they told a good story with isolating Gordon & Guevara making frequent tags while working hard to isolate Evans. Their efforts weren’t enough, however, as the team known as “Los Gueros Del Cielo” would come back to take the win.

5.) Captain’s Choice Ten-Man Tag - Team Ricochet (Ricochet, AR Fox, Sami Callihan, Jason Cade, & Dezmond Xavier) vs. Team Will Ospreay (Will Ospreay, “The Villain” Marty Scurll, Drew Galloway, Ryan Smile, & Lio Rush): ****3/4

Ever since WrestleCon started putting on its own show for WrestleMania Weekend, this Ten-Man Tag has always been a staple. Of course, the captain’s were revealed beforehand, while (if I recall correctly), their teams aren’t revealed until the actual match (though some might’ve been revealed prior to the show by the captain’s themselves, but I don’t remember). Anyway, you knew this was going to be great, given who the captains were, and the kind of wrestlers they were going to pick, but I don’t think anyone anticipated this being as crazy as it ended up being This was an absolutely phenomenal match that was packed with insane action. There were some incredible moments in this one, such as Ospreay giving Ricochet a Spanish Fly from the top rope, to the floor, onto everyone else involved in the bout, and a massive Tower of Doom spot. We even saw (of all things) a dance break right in the middle of match, which saw everyone show off their dance moves. There were so many awesome spots in this one. This recap simply can’t do it justice. Even with some of the more ridiculous moments (like the dance break), this was still one of the best matches of WrestleMania Weekend in Orlando by far. Through all of this insanity, Jason Cade would end up pinning Will Ospreay to win the match for team Ricochet. This was simply amazing.

Afterwards, fans threw money into the ring as all ten men shook hands and celebrated together (with Jason Cade getting hoisted up). Ricochet then took the mic, and brought up the anniversary of the loss of Kris Travis (who died after a battle with cancer). He then turned his attention to the match, saying that he & Ospreay both legitimately picked all of their teammates themselves (save for, I think, one person on each team). Marty Scurll then took the mic and thanked the crowd.

6.) DDT Ironman Heavy Metal Weight Title - 20-Man Royal Rumble: **1/2

Well, after that crazy multi-man tag (and an intermission) we went to something entirely different. This was basically a Royal Rumble style of match, with over-the-top-rope eliminations, but the title that was on the line here (the DDT Ironman Heavy Metal Weight Title) could actually change hands multiple times during the rumble itself via pinfall, submission, or by being tossed over-the-top-rope. New entrants would enter the match even minute. For those who don’t know, the DDT Ironman Heavy Metal Weight Title is essentially a Hardcore Title used by the DDT promotion in Japan, with “24/7 rules” very similar to what the WWF did with their Hardcore Title during the Attitude Era. I’m not going to go over every single participant in this one (it’s a wacky list for sure), but I will point out a few highlights. Billy Gunn eliminated a bunch of guys, and Joey Ryan actually managed to toss out Moose using his dong. However, Swoggle (formerly known as Hornswoggle in WWE) would end up tossing out Ryan to win the match and the DDT Ironman Heavy Metal Weight Title. For what it was, this was perfectly fine. Given who was involved, you knew it was going to rely A LOT on comedy, and for the most part, everyone did a decent job.

After the match officially ended, Joey Ryan immediately got back in the ring and won back the belt from Swoggle. Ryan took the mic and said he proved that he was the best DDT Ironman Heavy Metal Weight Champion of all time by beating nineteen of the “best in the world”. This commented prompted The Sandman to come out (in an entrance that took FOREVER). Once he got to the ring, he offered Ryan a beer, but then hit him with his Singapore Cane, got the pin, and captured the DDT Ironman Heavy Metal Weight Title. With all of the wacky stuff we saw in that Royal Rumble, I guess it was only appropriate that The Sandman would end up with the title.

7.) TLC Match - Brian Cage (with Melissa Santos) vs. Johnny Mundo (with Taya): ***

To be clear, nothing was on the line here. This was a TLC Match that could only end via pinfall or submission. Melissa Santos (the ring announcer from Lucha Underground) did the introductions for Cage, and remained by his side for the match itself. This was another instance of a bout on this card that looked really solid on paper, but ultimately disappointed. That’s not to say that it was a terrible match. It was still relatively good, but it definitely could’ve been better. Part of the problem was that the crowd wasn’t very responsive. They were already exhausted after the insanity that occurred in the Captain’s Choice Ten-Man Tag, and the fact that this show was (apparently) running late didn’t help matters. The match itself did feature a couple of big spots, including both men taking out their opponent’s valet (Cage powerbombed Taya off the top rope through a table, while Mundo speared Santos through a table), but as a whole, it was just fine. Much like Lashley vs. Jeff Cobb from earlier, this might’ve come off better on TV, but in this setting, it just didn’t click. Cage would ultimately emerge victorious after hitting Mundo with a screwdriver onto a chair. Again, this was solid, but hardly anything special.

8.) The Lucha Brothers (Fenix & Pentagon Jr.) vs. The Broken Hardys: ***

I was really looking forward to see what these two teams could do together in this big tag team main event. Unfortunately, it ended up being a relatively short match, clocking in at just over seven minutes. Despite the length, all four men involved still worked pretty hard, and their efforts resulted in a pretty enjoyable bout. Both sides got their respective chants out of the way early, and then just went after each other with a series of big moves. They managed to pack a lot of action into such a small time frame, and that certainly made for an entertaining match. It could’ve been longer, but with the show running long, it was probably for the best. The Hardys certainly aren’t what they were in 2000-2001, but they still did their best to put on an exciting tag team encounter with another team of brothers in the form of Fenix & Pentagon Jr., known as The Lucha Brothers. In the end, The Hardys would get the win after Jeff Hardy hit a Swanton Bomb onto both of The Lucha Brothers.

Matt Hardy took the mic afterwards. He said that fans (like the ones in the crowd for this event) keep wrestling alive, especially on a weekend like this. He then put over The Lucha Brothers, and the two teams then shook hands. Matt said that The Hardys have been around for a long time, but he knows the future of wrestling is safe with guys like The Lucha Brothers, The Young Bucks, The Briscoes, and so on. Jeff Hardy then sang his “Obsolete” song, and Fenix thanked WrestleCon & The Hardys. The two teams celebrated together to close the show.

Overall: 7.25/10

The WrestleCon SuperShow tends to be a mixed bag, when it comes to match quality, and the 2017 edition of the event was certainly no exception. The show featured one truly spectacular bout in the form of the Captain Choice’s Ten-Man Tag (one of the best of the entire weekend for sure), but the rest of the matches were all over the place. Some were good, some fell short of expectations, while others were just…..average, I guess. Definitely check out Team Ospreay vs. Team Ricochet, but as for the rest of the show, just check out what you’re interested in.